Resilient tire



@L wg 1923.

E. G. HULSE RESILIENT TIRE Filed March 22, 1923 #ad i *eine ooiarAN-z, or CUMVBERLAND,

.ldifiahlf NDrsoN e. nunsnor cUra'BnnLaND, MARYLAND, .essrGNon froKnLLY-sPRINeFInLn MARYLANE, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

nnsrLinNLi'rInn.

Application kledvlarelir 22,A 1923. Serial No. 626,854;

To all whom t may cov'zcewz:

Be it known that I. Emisor: tll'unsn, ai

citizen of the United States, residing Vatl Cumberland, in the county of Allegany and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Resilient Tires, of which the following is a speciica tion. Y My present inventionhasfor its .principal object a further improvement in Vthe resiliency and stress-relieving:features in nonpneuinatic heavy vduty cushion tires,V beyond those specific'improvements.secured by my Letterslatent 1,445,768, datedlfebruary v20, 1923 and l,4:4'7,?84;. dated lilarch6,1923. The improvements herein disclosed relate specifically to the typeof tire'mainly dependent for resiliencyV upon the presence ofl stress-relieving voids active lWithin L' that portion of the structure subject'to strainsv of great intensity set up Withinthe zone of traction. s c Y f In seeking to develop a cushion tire capa.- lble of responding to the severe Vrequireifnent,s incident to its contemplated service, certain fundamental principles of construction are recognized as absolutely'necessary inporder that any degree of success shall-be attained. A tthe same time, the attainment of this cushioning or resiliency, bymore lor less faithful adherence to proven methods of con` struction entails the creationn Within the structure, of certain inherent Weaknesses which are accepted bythe designer as .necT

some degree "in the proportioning of a struc-` ture capable of exhibiting, in a conspicuous, n

rt1re,vit has become the object of this invendegree, the particular objective sought.

To fully coinprehendthe scope of my improvement as related 'to other' features of the tire structure, old in the art, vit is `necessary to briefly set'v forth the functional purpose of that which is old, in coordinated relationship with that which 'is here dis; closed as new. f

ln the'making of acushion tire for heavy duty, as on motortrucks, the tirestructure must, of necessity, beinitially resilient and capable of displacement vflow under deformation stresses. ln addition, the peculiar undulation or Wave ofthe yielding material, set up in advance ofthe rolling contact .of `the tire with the-roamimust be relieved, at

vnotch cleft must be appreciable, both for Y frequent intervals, byjvoids Worked transM vers'ely of the tread surfaceg'otherwise, the

accumulated'traction Wave will weaken and ultimately destroy the structure.Av A

Now thetransversely directed'tread voids Will not, of themselves, provide the desired degree of resiliency; therefore, sub-tread voids, preferably of the continuous type` in the median plane of the structure and as large as necessaryare desirable, andarey obviously Vlocated as close 'as is practicable c to Ythe surface of the tread in order that the place of ready displaced material shall find a accommodation.

By reference tothe accompanying dran ings. it is` noted that the transverse `tread v notches are, preferably,r in'sta-ggered relation,r\vith theirinWardly ldirected termini,

preferably, overreaching the median plane" of the tire in order to more effectively absorb and break up the traction Wave in the mate-`=A rial as alisoto afford the maximum tract1on-seelnng properties.r The breadth of the vva-veV absorbing .and traction purposes.

`It is also to be noted that the substantially continuous subtr'ead void, just below the notch cleft, and in the median plane 'of the tire, is Worked as closerto theliinit depth of that portion ofthe notch adjacent the center of the tire as is safe. lnconnection with the proximity`v of the subi-treadvoid to the notch, cleft, particular attention is called `Ato the fatal Weakness that wouldL exist at this" Joint ofvap roach Were nothin done to compensate for the loss ofjinaterial here.

Noting this pertinentpointof Weakness and taking full cognizance of1all thaty has been doneto develop thisiheavy duty cushion typef v .95,

the internalsub-tread void.

staggered relation.

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1, patrt-icularly showing one way of forming the continuous, or substantially continuous, subtread void Lby working centrally merging voids alternately from Veach side of the tire.

'Fig 3 is a cross'section through the tire,

taken directly through the reiniforcing` web,y

and more fully illustrating the manner of forming the sub-tread void, as Vparticularly set forth above. y p

My preferred-tire structure 10 is shown, by way of illustrationy of one embodiment only, as irremovably mountedion a metallic one piece base rim 11. @n the other hand, Vthe tire could as well be of the rim-bolted type, and the rim could as well be the well lrnown divided type. lNithin the heart of the tire a preferred form. of continuous or substantially continuous void 19, is worlred for the purpose of increasing its resiliency; in harmony with accepted practices, Non', in the creation oft-his void 12,y which ive may term continuous or substantially continuous (dependent upon the physical relation ofr the instrumcntalities resorted to in its "ror-v eration or as an incident to the molding process, whereby correspondingly shaped voids 13, terminating in portions 12 (her,-- tofore mentioi'ied) are left within the massv` when the void-forming instrumentalities are removed. (The drawings being expressive of this featureand operation.)

1Where'the void 12 is formed as above noted, itis preferable that the 'arcuate portions 13 be arranged in'staggered relation with respect to complementari features on the -opposite side of the tirewith circumferentia-lly elongated openings 14 close to the'base.

AAlso, the portions 13 are preferably are" ranged intermediate the tread notches; which 'are likewise preferably in opposed In the event that the voids 12 are formed in the preferred manner, it is desirable, but not lessentialjthat the portions 13 do not completely merge attheir inner termini. This for the reason that .there should be.V

somev tolerance lallowed betweenV the void forming instrumentalities adjacent theirl innertermini to avoid the necessity for precision molding practices. In Fig. 2 the clearance between portions 13 within their fzone of circumferential alinement (which zone constitutes the circumferenti'al void12) is clearly indicatedr by A VThe vertical extent of the alining Zone, which may be termed the vertical depth of void 12, is clearly indicated by B (also shown in Fig. 3),

' In actual practiceV there would be thin dividing Walls of material, of a thickness A,

lis anchored.

alongthe extent of the void 12 where the preferred method of construction, above described, is followed. These divisions could,

ofcourse, be obviated by cutting the tolerances of the void forming means, or by perforating the Vwalls A, thus establishing absolute continuity.

kThe traction and stress-relieving tread notches 15 in their preferred form are readily directed with respect to the tire structure and extend in staggered relation beyond the median plane ofthe structure. rllhe notches have suoli width that the circumferential flow of the tire material may be accommodated therein without undue impairment by the presenceof the reinforcing websor bridges disposed within saidnotches. The inward termini of the notches are ypreferably ofV considerable radial depth and steeply sloped to form a definite abutment 16 against which one end of the reinforcing web The cleft in the face of the tread, kforming the transverse extent of the notch, ispreferably normal to the axis of the tire structure and is enlarged toward'its terminusvin the tread'for'the purpose of in creasing displacement aes and the affording is to be such that there is left a substantial `space betweenl either of its sides and the transversely :directed vertical wallsf of the tread cleft, whereby displacement of the tire tread material can be accommodated. When` the tirematerial within the zone of traction is'crowded into the cleft 15 the clearance between the web 17 and the cleft walls will be so restricted, or entirely closed that no foreign matter can become lodged in that space to splitthe tire-this being the source of ymuch trouble in ordinary open. notch tires, or in notched tires having dirt expellers only partially elfective by reason of their defective design. 1n prior types of cushion tires with tread 4clefts having secondary excrescences of rubbermolded therein for the purpose of expelling or eX- cluding road accretions the univers-al practice has been to attach the said excrescences in alternating arrangement to either side wall of the cleft with definite .clearances between them', or else,y to attach the eX- crescences to the bottom of the notch whereby they resemble slim kupstanding cylinders.

f side wall of the tire. Also, I prefer to taper the depthl of the web, ouwardly, Iand secure this electv by a well defined series ofrout- 'wardly falling steps. The breadth of the web But, in following either of these prior expedients it is obvious that the closure of the gaping notch is imperfect, andthis being the case, small pebbles and coarse sand and the like find lodgement deep within the notch and abrade the material when thus entrapped. i

The continuousv parallel reinforcing web of myinvention acts to completely seal the bottom of the notch when`the sides thereof are closed under load within the zone of traction, in which inevitable relation the f soft resilient web 17 will become pinched bep tion with the notch-sealing tendency of the trapped foreign matter.

tween the contracting cleft walls and elon-V gate toward the tread surface, thus tending to actively expel yany foreign matter. rlhe web is, of course, of greatest depth centrally web over its entire extent, cooperate to form a most effective larrmgement for protecting thetire from the destructive effects of en- Having now described what I claim is: Y Y

l. A resilient tire having a sub-tread void transversely directed Vclefts in the tread pormy invention fully tions slopin ,from their innerl termini radivally inward y of the tire circumference tofside walls.

ward the tire side walls, each'of said clefts beingl partially obstructed by a web integrally united with the bottom and inwardly directed terminus thereof and extending i parallel with its saidV transverse extent, said `web beingofless depth toward the side ofr the tire kthan at its opposed terminus.

2. A resilient tire having transversely directed clefts in the tread portion progressively deepened from their inner termini toward the tire side walls, each of said elefts being partiallyobstructed by a resilient web molded inunion with the bottom and inwardly directed terminus thereof and extending parallel with'its transverse extent; f

3. A resilient tire havin@ substantially parallel-sided transversely directed clefts in the tread portion progressively deepened from their inner termini ktoward the tire side walls, each of said clefts being partially obstructed by a resilient web molded inte grally into the bottoni and inwardly'.directed terminus thereof land extending parallel with its transverse extent, said web being progressively reduced in depth toward the tire 4. A resilient ,tire y parallel-sided transversely directed clefts in the tread portion, each said clef-t being paralleled and partially obstructed by' an integral resilient web having substantially parallel sides, said Webs ybeing united along the bottom and inwardly directed terminus thereof and diminished in depth towardthe tire sidewalls.

In testimony whereofI my signature. Y EDISON G. HULSE.

lhaving substantiallyV 

